MEDICINE 



surgeon to advocate primary amputation, in gunshot 

 wounds, of the limbs, and also to introduce the treat- 

 ment of aneurisms by compression ; but he is generally 

 rated as a conservative operator, who favored medica- 

 tion rather than radical operations, where possible. 



In Italy, Marcus Aurelius Severinus (1580-1656) and 

 Peter Marchettis (1589-1675) were the leading sur- 

 geons of their nation. Like many of his predecessors 

 in Europe, Severinus ran amuck with the Holy Inqui- 

 sition and fled from Naples. But the waning of the 

 powerful arm of the Church is shown by the fact that 

 he was brought back by the unanimous voice of the 

 grateful citizens, and lived in safety despite the frowns 

 of the theologians. 



The sixteenth century cannot be said to have added 

 much of importance in the field of practical medicine, 

 and, as in the preceding and succeeding centuries, was 

 at best only struggling along in the wake of anatomy, 

 physiology, and surgery. In the seventeenth century, 

 however, at least one discovery in therapeutics was 

 made that has been an inestimable boon to humanity 

 ever since. This was the introduction of cinchona 

 bark (from which quinine is obtained) in 1640. But 

 this century was productive of many medical systems, 

 and could boast of many great names among the medi- 

 cal profession, and, on the whole, made considerably 

 more progress than the preceding century. 



Of the founders of medical systems, one of the most 

 widely known is Jan Baptista van Helmont (1578- 

 1644), an eccentric genius who constructed a system 

 of medicine of his own and for a time exerted consider- 



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